


we take what we like from them

by ralndown (orphan_account)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, ENJOY IT, M/M, Multi, Soulmark AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, how long have i been working on this? no idea, im posting it anyway, leave a comment, maybe help me stop screaming, read it, this is killing me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 09:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10461855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ralndown
Summary: Mitchell Marner is born with the perfect silhouette of a maple leaf on his shoulder, and that's where everything begins.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I got frustrated staring at the blinking placeholder so i thought fuck it - just upload it in bits, stop stressing about keeping it all together! So, here it is. 
> 
> [july edit - changed a few things cause i think I'm gonna revamp how these all fit together, hang tight it'll make sense in the end]

Mitchell Marner is born with the perfect silhouette of a maple leaf on his shoulder, and that's where everything begins. Because of this, he grows up with the blue and white fury of Toronto pumping through his veins. He learns everything he can, and then, he takes it to the ice. He is seven years old and _too young_ , they say, _too small_ , they cry.

He keeps on, he plays, he _wins_.  
  
He meets Dylan Strome and they do not like each other. Dylan has a maybe decapitated otter on his forearm and he keeps stealing the scoring title out from under Mitch's nose. He thinks maybe he hates him.  
  
Later, a scholarship declined and another team joined, Mitch meets rookie superstar Connor McDavid. Connor, who turns out to be the other half of Dylan's otter, is less easy to hate. Despite the talk comparing him to Gretzky and the future of hockey falling at his feet someday, Mitch has no problems with Connor. Except, maybe, that Dylan is his best friend.  
  
Dylan Strome is Connor McDavid’s best friend, and _soulmate_ , and nobody is surprised. Their chemistry unmatched, their story as rich as they come, there's simply no doubt. And when they greet you with outstretched hands and you notice the half black, half traced print of a cartoon otter on mimicking arms, you understand. Mitch can't help but want to be a part of it. But both of their shoulders remain blank, and Mitch already has at least one mark at 16, so he puts his stick back on the ice, and keeps playing.  
  
He goes to Europe in 2014, helps his country win gold, and battles his way into becoming one of the top prospects the following year. He gets drafted 4th overall - immediately behind his once enemy, Dylan Strome - to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  
No one is all that surprised, considering the logo he had already carried with him for 18 years was simply now emblazoned on his chest.  
Belonging, was what it meant.  
  
He already has one mark, a triangle of little crowns on his left ankle; the unmistakable mark of Sweden’s national hockey team. It showed up sometime when he was really young - his family can't remember exactly when - and so this mark has remained a mystery. But if it means what he think it might mean - that his soulmate is a swedish hockey player, he's perfectly alright with that. He can't help speculate what it means. That he's meant to _be_ a hockey player, he's meant to be _with_  a hockey player. It keeps him going when people talk about how he’ll never make it in the big league.

He’ll show them. _He’ll show them all._

 

* * *

 

William Andrew Michael Nylander, though born in Calgary of all places, is Swedish; the three crowns branded on his ankle clearly say as much. With his father playing in the NHL, William grows up knowing the media. He moves around a lot and meets many different people, yet his body remains unmarked for several years. He laces his skates tight over his crowns, day after day, anticipating this moment. A period of unbeatable pride with the three blue crowns he was gifted with as a child emblazoned over his ribcage, stitched firmly into the bright yellow jersey of team Sweden.

 

He's playing against team USA in Finland when he notices a sting in his chest. A soft burn, like he forgot to wear sunscreen to the beach, flames over his heart. There are only a few things this could signal.

In the break after the first period, he throws off his jersey and finds the hazy outline of his first soul mark.

"Shit."

He can't see the mark properly by just tucking his chin to his chest, but what he can see is magnificent. It’s almost a sun, almost a cross, four groups of lines stretching out from an open circle in the centre. He hesitantly traces a finger down one of the lines and thrills with the spark of feeling that blossoms from the point of contact.

 

Will has a soulmate, and they're at this game, right now.

  
“...Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it obvious I love my small trash boy mitch marner or what


End file.
